Conflicting
recommendations for plant-food vs. animal-food consumption dominate the
2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s recent report, meaning that
real solutions for obese and sick Americans will, unfortunately, not be
forthcoming. Except for a few hopeful sentences, the committee presents
a report filled with fear mongering, doubletalk, omissions of major
topics, consistently biased views of the scientific literature, and
inexcusable factual errors that favor the livestock industries.

I believe the
members of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee know the truth
about the role that animal products play in causing the vast majority of
chronic diseases that afflict Americans today (heart disease, type-2
diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, and breast, colon, and prostate cancer,
all of which are mentioned in their report). I believe they also know
the solution to the health problems Americans face since they recommend
taking steps to “Shift food intake pattern to a more plant-based diet
that emphasizes vegetables, cooked dry beans and peas, fruits, whole
grains, nuts, and seeds.” They should have stopped right there, but they
didn’t. Instead they continued on with the following recommendations:
“In addition, increase the intake of seafood, and fat-free and low-fat
milk and milk products, and consume only moderate amounts of lean meats,
poultry, and eggs.” With just this one industry-friendly sentence, the
consumer is given permission by the Dietary Guidelines Advisory
Committee to continue eating the animal foods (albeit in moderation)
that have caused our nation’s current health crisis.

Please take
the time to read this
report or, at least, the
Major Conclusions. Your written
comments to
the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee must be received before 5:00
pm EDT on July 15, 2010.

Doubletalk throughout the Report

On Animal
Foods and Disease

In some
statements, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee discourages meat
and dairy consumption: “…deliberate public health efforts are warranted
to reduce intakes of saturated fats to meet dietary guidelines for
optimal health. Males older than age 12 years also are encouraged to
consume less total dietary cholesterol.” Then the committee contradicts
these warnings by writing, “Americans may choose animal products as part
of their diet based on the body of evidence showing a general lack of
relationship between animal protein consumption and selected health
outcomes.”

Saturated fat
and cholesterol are synonymous with meat, dairy, and egg products. Ample
evidence establishes beyond any reasonable doubt that the
consumption of animal products are a major player in the cause of
osteoporosis, kidney stones, liver and kidney damage, heart disease,
obesity, type 2 diabetes, and common cancers.

On Dietary Fat
and Obesity

When it comes
to the main goal of the report, which is fighting obesity, especially in
children, the committee warns, “Increased intake of dietary fat is
associated with greater adiposity in children.” Rather than cut down on
the total fat intake, their contradictory recommendation is, “…replacing
SFA with some combination of PUFA and MUFA should yield significant
public health benefits.”

Polyunsaturated fats (PUFA) and monounsaturated fats (MUFA) are equally
as
fattening for children and adults as are saturated fats (SFA). Other
well-established adverse effects of PUFA, such as immune suppression,
cancer promotion, gallstone formation, and an increased risk of
bleeding, were not mentioned.

On Dairy
Products and Health

Most
interesting is that throughout the report the Dietary Guidelines
Advisory Committee praises milk products for their health benefits
without expressing any real concerns over the harms caused by this
category of foods. This is especially contradictory since the committee
does consistently express concerns about the harmful effects of the
intake of excess calories, total fat, saturated fat, simple sugars, and
sodium, which are the major components of milk products. They write,
“Early signs of atherosclerotic CVD [cardiovascular disease] are also
seen in children, and a number of studies indicate that the
atherosclerotic process begins in childhood and is affected by high
blood cholesterol levels. Therefore, reduction in SFA in children and
young adults may provide benefits decades earlier than currently
appreciated relative to both CVD and T2D [type 2 diabetes] incidence.”

Even after recognizing the harmful effects of saturated fats and
cholesterol, especially for children, the committee emphasizes the
importance of hooking our youth early: “It is especially important to
establish milk drinking in young children, as those who consume milk as
children are more likely to do so as adults.” Sincere interests in
protecting our children would have resulted in clear and strong warnings
about the harmful effects of fat-filled foods, such as milk, cheese,
cottage cheese, ice cream, and yogurt.

Also note that
low-fat milk products, labeled as 1% and 2%, actually contain 13% and
23%, respectively, of their calories as saturated fat. The Dietary
Guidelines Advisory Committee recommends a reduction of saturated fat to
less than 7% of daily calories. Low-fat milk products fail to meet this
important goal.

On Saturated
and Trans Fats

The report’s
31-page “Major Conclusions” section dedicates (collectively) almost one
entire page to defending two kinds of fat that are characteristic of
meat and dairy products: saturated fat (stearic acid) and trans fatty
acids, found in cows and their byproducts. They say, “…when stearic acid
is substituted for other SFA or trans fatty acids, plasma LDL
cholesterol levels are decreased…” and “Total elimination of rTFA
(ruminant) would require elimination of red meat and dairy products from
the diet. Although total elimination of iTFA (industrial) may be
desirable, the elimination of rTFA would have wider implications for
dietary adequacy and is not recommended.”

Saturated fats
and trans fats have a reputation for causing serious illness, including
atherosclerosis and cancer, and the safety of stearic acid and rTFA is
unproven. At the very least they contribute to obesity. The reason for
dedicating so much space to defending these two cow-derived fats can
only be interpreted as a special concession from the committee to the
cattle industries.

Lying by Omission

Lactose
Intolerance Ignored

In two
sentences the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee essentially
dismisses the intestinal distress suffered by tens of millions of
Americans caused by consuming milk products, including low-fat and
non-fat milk products: “Individuals who perceive that they are lactose
intolerant or allergic to dairy products should be evaluated for such
before unnecessarily limiting or eliminating dairy-based foods from
their dietary patterns. Lactose-reduced or low-lactose dairy-based
products may assist in obtaining nutrients provided by the fluid milk
and milk products food group for those who are lactose intolerant.”
Estimates are that consuming milk sugar (lactose) makes 60 to 90 percent
of non-white people—the majority of Americans—sick.
For the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to minimize the importance
of this major health issue must be considered to be a special concession
to the dairy industry (and possibly racist).

Damage from
Animal Protein Ignored

The harmful
effects of protein overload were dismissed by the Dietary Guidelines
Advisory Committee with this statement: “The data are conflicting on the
potential for high-protein diets to produce gastrointestinal effects,
change nitrogen balance, alter mineral absorption, or affect chronic
diseases, such as osteoporosis or renal stones.” Animal foods are
inherently high in protein. By recognizing high-protein foods as safe,
the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has removed a major concern
about eating meat, poultry, shellfish, fish, eggs, and especially,
low-fat milk products. The result of reducing the fat content in milk
products is a large increase in their protein and sugar (lactose)
content.

The
preponderance of scientific evidence recognizes animal foods, high in
acids and protein, as
damaging to the bones. The human body neutralizes dietary acids by
releasing alkaline materials (carbonates, citrates, and sodium) from the
bones. The chronic acidosis caused by consuming usual quantities of
cheese, meat, poultry, fish, and shellfish is the primary cause of
osteoporosis. Worldwide, rates of hip fractures (and kidney stones)
increase with increasing animal protein consumption (including dairy
products). People from the US, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Australia, and
New Zealand who have the world’s highest animal-protein consumption also
have the highest rates of osteoporosis. The lowest rates are among
people from rural Asia and rural Africa who also eat the fewest
animal-derived foods (these people are also on lower calcium diets).

Major Sources
of Infections Ignored

The Dietary
Guidelines Advisory Committee discussed in great detail in the final
pages of the “Major Conclusions” section of this report the importance
of home-based food safety practices. “Evidence shows that proper hand
sanitation techniques, proper washing of vegetables and fruit,
prevention of cross-contamination, and appropriate cooking and storage
of foods in the home kitchen are most likely to prevent food safety
problems.” (Note that the words meat, poultry, milk, cheese, eggs, or
fish do not appear in this advisement.)

Ignored by the
Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee are the real sources of microbes
that infect Americans: the filth found in meat, poultry, dairy, egg, and
fish products. Essentially all food-borne pathogens that sicken people
have their origin in animals. This can be from a direct transfer caused
by eating their muscles and organs or their lactation fluids, or an
indirect transfer, such as commonly occurs when animal excrement
contaminates vegetables and fruits (plant pathogens do not infect
people).

Dairy
products, followed by seafood, have been the foods most often recalled
by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because of contamination
with infectious agents, mostly bacteria. Meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy
products are commonly tainted with
disease-causing bacteria, such as salmonella, staphylococci,
listeria, deadly E. coli O157 and mycobacterium paratuberculosis.
Viruses, known to cause lymphoma and leukemia-like diseases and immune
deficiency disease, are found in most cattle herds in the US.

The Dietary
Guidelines Advisory Committee should be telling Americans that the best
way to avoid the 25 to 250 million cases of food-borne illness causing
an estimated 6000 to 10,000 deaths annually in the US would be to stop
eating the sources of the infections: animal foods. Of course, the US
government should also oversee the clean up of the livestock industries’
manufacturing practices.

Factual Errors

Plants Are
Incomplete Proteins

The Dietary
Guidelines Advisory Committee took an often stated but incorrect
position on the adequacy of amino acids found in plant foods, stating,
"Consumption of plant proteins of lower quality is generally fine as
long as calorie needs are met and effort is made to complement the
incomplete vegetable proteins…. Individuals who restrict their diet to
plant foods may be at risk of not getting adequate amounts of certain
indispensable amino acids..." Statements like these only serve to
frighten people away from healthy plant-food-based diets.

Basic
research
completed by the legendary scientist, William Rose, on proteins and
amino acids in the spring of 1952
determined the human requirements for the eight essential amino acids.
By calculating the amount of each essential amino acid provided by
unprocessed complex carbohydrates (starches and vegetables) and
comparing these values with those determined by Rose, the results show
that any single one or combination of these plant foods provides amino
acid intakes in excess of the recommended requirements. Therefore, a
careful look at the founding scientific research proves it is impossible
to design an amino acid-deficient diet based on the amounts of
unprocessed starches and vegetables sufficient to meet the caloric needs
of humans. Furthermore, mixing plant foods to make a complementary amino
acid composition is unnecessary. The addition of animal foods to a
starch-based vegan diet does not improve protein nutrition in children
or adults. Current scientific research written by world-renowned experts
confirms the fallacy of plants having incomplete proteins. The Dietary
Guidelines Advisory Committee is guilty of spreading unscientific
rumors.

Vegan Diets
Are Nutritionally Inadequate

The Dietary
Guidelines Advisory Committee frightens consumers away from plant-food
based diets by making the following statements: “Nutrients of concern on
vegan diets include calcium, iron, B12, zinc, and long-chain n-3
fatty acids…. Additionally, individuals consuming vegetarian,
particularly vegan, diets should ensure adequate intake of all
nutrients.” In addition, the report says, “Vegan diets may increase risk
of osteoporotic fractures.”

Plant foods
are so plentiful in calcium and iron that there are
no cases of deficiency of these essential minerals reported in
people following any natural diet, even diets containing no meat or
dairy products. Dairy products actually inhibit iron absorption and are
completely lacking in iron themselves; and meat contains essentially no
calcium. People following diets very high in animal-muscle foods consume
about 100 mg of calcium daily. (Current recommendations are from 400 mg
to 2000 mg of calcium daily).

Only plants
can synthesize essential n-3 fatty acids. People can easily
elongate basic plant fats (alpha linolenic acid) into all the
long-chain fats that are required for children and adults, pregnant or
not. Zinc deficiency is almost unknown worldwide, but is often used as a
scare tactic to sell red meat. And yes,
vitamin B12 can become a nutritional issue, but only for people who
have avoided animal foods for two to three decades. However, taking a
supplement of vitamin B12, as recommended by the Dietary Guidelines
Advisory Committee, solves this very small risk for people following
plant food-based diets.

Two studies
served as the basis for claiming vegans have a higher risk of
osteoporosis. In the
first study,
a more likely explanation for higher fracture rates was the greater
physical activity performed by vegans and resulting trauma. The
second study can best be described as junk science and propaganda
from the dairy industry. Worldwide, populations consuming food patterns
closest to a vegan diet have the
fewest osteoporosis-related fractures.

Dairy Products
and the Risk of Malnutrition

The Dietary
Guidelines Advisory Committee warns people who choose not to consume
cow’s milk that they risk malnutrition by stating, “Those who choose not
to consume milk and milk products should include other foods in the diet
that contain the nutrients provided by the milk and milk products group,
protein, calcium, potassium, magnesium, Vitamin D, and Vitamin A.”

Protein,
calcium, potassium, magnesium, and beta-carotene (pro-vitamin A) are so
abundant in whole plant foods that deficiencies are unknown to occur as
long as people have enough food to eat, and
Vitamin D is a hormone produced by sunlight. The Dietary Guidelines
Advisory Committee was clear about its advice to avoid vitamin
supplements: “In this context, obtaining essential micronutrients from
foods when possible is the optimal approach and reliance on
multivitamin/mineral supplements is discouraged.” Recommending taking
Vitamin D-fortified milk is an obvious inconsistency.

Milk Reduces
Heart Disease, Diabetes and other Chronic Diseases

The reason
milk has become a health food is because of the effectiveness of the
promotional arm of the dairy industry.
Dairy Management Inc. began its campaign in 2003 and has spent
nearly $200 million annually to
fund research that supports their
business interests. As a direct result of their efforts, the Dietary
Guidelines Advisory Committee can now make this statement: “Research
since 2004 shows that the under-consumption of milk and milk products
may lead to an
increase in cardiovascular disease and
type 2 diabetes,
as well as an increased risk for poor bone health and related diseases.”

The Dietary
Guidelines Advisory Committee recognizes dairy foods—loaded with
artery-clogging saturated fat, cholesterol, animal protein, and lactose,
and deficient in dietary fiber and complex carbohydrates—as the
healthiest of foods for Americans to consume. This, of course, is not
what
science, untainted by dairy industry dollars, clearly reports.

Eggs Are Safe
for the General Public

The committee
offers this qualified “safe to consume” statement that may appease the
egg industry, “…that consumption of dietary cholesterol in the amount of
one egg per day is not harmful and does not result in negative changes
in serum lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Neither does
consumption of eggs at this level increase risk of CVD in healthy
individuals."

The scientific
research that shows that eggs do not adversely affect blood
cholesterol leading to artery disease is funded by the egg industry.
Consider that eggs are very high in saturated fat and the most
concentrated source of cholesterol in the human diet, with eight times
more cholesterol than beef. The trick for showing no rise in cholesterol
from eating eggs is to first saturate the experimental subjects with
cholesterol from other sources, like beef, chicken and/or fish and then
add eggs to the diet. Once a person has consumed 400 to 800 mg of
cholesterol in a day, adding more cholesterol-containing foods (such as
an egg) causes little rise in blood cholesterol because the bowel cannot
absorb more. Poor-quality studies, often funded by the egg industry, add
to the information they use to vindicate their products.

The actual
impact of
eating eggs is seen when people who eat little cholesterol are fed
eggs. When 17 lacto-vegetarian college students (consuming 97 mg of
cholesterol daily) were fed one extra large egg daily for three weeks
their “bad” LDL-cholesterol increased by 12%.

Fish Is Health
Food, Especially during Pregnancy

The Dietary
Guidelines Advisory Committee is aware that the oceans are in peril and
sea life is on the verge of extinction, but this impending calamity did
not stop them from supporting the interests of the fishing industry by
parroting claims about the benefits of fish fat: “…that consumption of
two servings of seafood per week (4 oz per serving), which provide an
average of 250 mg per day of long-chain n-3 fatty acids, is
associated with reduced cardiac mortality from CHD or sudden death in
persons with and without CVD. Increased consumption of seafood will
require efficient and ecologically friendly strategies to be developed
to allow for greater consumption of seafood that is high in EPA and DHA,
and low in environmental pollutants such as methyl mercury.” As for
pregnant women, “The current evidence, however, favors consumption of
fish for pregnant and lactating women, particularly in the context of
women making educated choices to consume seafood that is high in n-3
fatty acids and low in environmental pollutants.”

“Fish” refers
to the muscles of animals that are high in cholesterol, fat, and animal
protein, and totally deficient in dietary fiber and carbohydrate. Thus,
they contribute to many of the dietary diseases discussed in this
report. Their high levels of
methyl
mercury, a powerful oxidant, may negate any claimed heart benefits
from the n-3 fatty acids (omega-3 fats). Furthermore, fish
consumption may only serve as a marker for healthier people and have no
actual overall heart disease prevention or other health benefits.

The research
used to
scare pregnant women into eating a food containing fetal damaging
levels of environmental poisons is seriously flawed. Directly to the
point, pregnant women can
easily synthesize all the long-chain fats (DHA and EPA) from the
basic plant fats, and there is no need for fish to serve as an
intermediary.

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee
Needs To Be Replaced

These are
desperate times. Currently, essentially all Americans over the age of 30
are in poor health and more than two-thirds are overweight. Over half
have other risk factors (elevated cholesterol, hypertension, etc.) that
predict a shorter, less productive life, and at least one-third are on
medications for treating diet-induced problems.

Following my
first reading of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans I thought the
report could be rewritten. Now after a more thorough evaluation of this
document I realize this is not possible. There is no other solution than
to replace the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee with experts who
will look at the science with an impartial gaze and render
recommendations that are truly for the people rather than for America’s
industries.

America needs
a Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee dedicated to fixing the problem
of the rich Western diet. Trillions of dollars are at stake if the truth
is told, but the survival of our nation is at stake if we do not take
action that is long overdue.